Briquetting apparatus and die member arrangement therefor

ABSTRACT

A briquetting arrangement in which two wheels in opposed relation rotate in opposite directions and have die members mounted about the peripheries thereof with cavities formed in the die members in which material fed between the rotating wheels is compacted into briquettes. The die members are formed of a hard wear resistant material such as cemented tungsten carbide and are detachably mounted on supporting block members which are, in turn, fixed to the peripheries of the respective wheels.

United States Patent [19] Woodward 1 BRIQUETTING APPARATUS AND DIE MEMBER ARRANGEMENT THEREFOR [75] Inventor: Bruce C. Woodward, Greensburg,

[73] Assignee: Kennamental 1nc., Latrobe, Pa.

[22] Filed: Oct. 31, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 302,516

[52] US. Cl 425/237, 425/363, 425/470 [51] Int. Cl. B290 3/02 [58] Field of Search 425/237, 335, 363, 470, 425/471; 29/118, 119; 74/2305, 230.13, 243 DR [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 538,475 4/1895 Albrecht 425/237 X 1,232,764 7/1917 Brendage 425/237 X Aug. 13, 1974 1,873,041 8/1932 Robinson 425/237 X 2,958,902 11/1960 Decker et a1... 425/237 X 2,958,903 1 H1960 Decker 425/237 X Primary ExaminerR0bert L. Spicer, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm -Melvin A. Crosby [57] ABSTRACT A briquetting arrangement in which two wheels in opposed relation rotate in opposite directions and have die members mounted about the peripheries thereof with cavities formed in the die members in which material fed between the rotating wheels is compacted into briquettes. The die members are formed of a hard wear resistant material such as cemented tungsten carbide and are detachably mounted on supporting block members which are, in turn, fixed to the peripheries of the respective wheels.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENTEB 31974 SHEET 3 BF 3 70 FIG-8 30 FlG'Q The present invention relates to a briquetting apparatus and to a die arrangement therefor and is particularly concerned with a briquetting apparatus in which individual die members can readily be installed and removed.

Briquetting devices are known and, in general, comprise a pair of wheels in spaced relation in peripheral engagement with each other and rotating on parallel axes with the peripheries of the wheel being formed with cavities so that material fed between the rotating wheels is briquetted in the cavities.

A problem in connection with an apparatus of this nature is that the dies can wear and break and a great deal of lost time is encountered in connection with maintaining the apparatus in good operating order.

The die members which directly engage the material being briquetted wear rapidly and for this reason are preferably formed of a hard wear resistant material. Such a wear resistant material can be selected from the hard metal carbides, such as tungsten carbide, and it is proposed to form the dies from cemented metal carbides, especially tungsten carbide.

Cemented tungsten carbide is a material which must be properly supported in order to obtain the full benefits therefrom and, likewise, to prevent the carbide material from fracturing, and it is in connection with the mounting of the carbide diemembers on the wheels of a briquetting device that the present invention is particularly concerned.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of a briquetting apparatus having extremely hard wear resistant die members in which the die members can readily be installed and removed from the briquetting apparatus in a relatively short time.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a briquetting apparatus in which cemented hard metal carbide is employed for forming the dies and in which the portions of the wheels of the apparatus making up the dies is kept to a minimum size thereby minimizing the cost of forming the die members.

Another object is the provision of a die member mounting arrangement for a briquetting apparatus in which the die members are firmly clamped to the wheels of the device in such a manner as to permit substantially the full strength of the material of the die members to be developed.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view looking at the end of two cooperating briquetting rolls.

FIG. 2 is a partial section through one of the rolls drawn at enlarged scale and indicated by line II-II on FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 is a sectional view indicated by line III,III

FIG. 7 is a view like FIGS. 2 and showing another modified construction.

FIG. 8 is a section on line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIGS. 2, 5 and 7 but showing still another modification.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the opposed wheels of a briquetting apparatus are formed to have circumferentially distributed outwardly opening V shaped pockets. The pockets are adapted for receiving steel support blocks and which steel support blocks have outwardly facing grooves adapted for receiving hard wear resistant die members. The'die members are adapted for being clamped in the grooves as by wedge shaped lock bars, or are adapted for being secured in the grooves by bolts extending through the block members from the radially inner side and threaded into threaded holes provided therefor on the radially inner sides of the die members.

Advantageously, the die members are formed of cemented hard metal carbide material and firmly engage the radially outer sides of the support blocks and which blocks, in turn, firmly engage the radially outwardly facing'side of the main body member forming a part of the respective briquetting wheel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, briquetting presses in which particulate material is compacted into briquettes are known and one common type employs wheels 10 and 12 mounted on shafts 14 and 16 respectively. Pockets formed around the peripheral portions of the wheels cooperate to compact material introduced, or fed, between the rotating wheels into briquettes conforming in size to the shape of the pockets.

Normally, the pockets on one wheel register with those on the other, but this is not necessarily the case, and a pocket on one wheel could be opposed to a blank area on the other wheel in which case the briquette would be the size of the pocket on the single wheel rather than the size of the combined pockets on both wheels.

FIG. 2 is a section through wheel 10 and shows that the wheel comprises a main body part 18 having a radial flange rings 20 and 22 detachably mounted on main body part 18 in opposed relation. Through bolts 24 are provided for clamping flange rings 20 and 22 fixedly in place on main body part 18.

Each of flange rings 20 and 22 at the radially outer edge has an inwardly extending rim part 26 and each of which inclined toward the central plane of the main body part in the radially outward direction.

The space defined between flange rings 20 and 22 is adapted for receiving a plurality of steel block members 28 conformed in shape to the said space so as to be fixedly supported therein when flange rings 20 and 22 are drawn up tight by bolts 24.

The steel block members 28 are configured as shown in FIG. 3 and have wedge-shaped inner parts which seat in correspondingly shaped pockets formed about main body member 18.

According to the present invention, each steel block member 28 has a groove 30 extending thereacross in such a direction as to be substantially tangential to the radius of the main body member which passes through means 38 formed therein and facing radially outwardly.

Each die member has inclined side walls, one of which mates with inclined wall 32 at one side of groove 30 and the other of which is adapted for being engaged by a wedge shaped locking member 40 interposed between the side of die member 36 and radial wall 34 of groove 30.

Bolts 42 extend through locking member 40 and into the respective steel block member 28 so that the locking member 40 can be drawn down tight thereby fixedly to wedge die member 36 in place while simultaneously the die member is thrust strongly downwardly against the bottom wall of groove 30. The die member 36 is thus held in a state of compression and is prevented from moving on the respective steel block member and is, in this manner, strongly and firmly supported in such a manner as to develop great strength.

As will best be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the radially outer side 44 of die 36 is arcuately formed so as to be coaxial with the center of rotation of the respective main body member while the wedge-shaped locking member 40 is advantageously straight. This provides for simple manufacture of the wedge-shaped locking member while the die member, which is a molded part, can be arcuately formed on the radially outer side with no inconvenience.

The particular advantage of the present arrangement is that the die members are relatively small and can, therefore, be manufactured from the hardest and most wear resistant material for long life without the die members becoming excessively expensive. For example, a hard cemented carbide material, such as cemented tungsten carbide, is an ideal material from which to fabricate the die members.

At the same time, even under the best circumstances, die members will fail, or become worn out, and it is of advantage to be able to replace the die members relatively quickly. The present invention provides for quick replacement of the die members because only the locking member 40 needs to be removed to permit the respective die member to be removed from the main body part of the wheel. Wheels according to the prior art have been made in which the entire wheel must be taken apart to replace a die member with the disassembling of the wheel releasing all of the die members at one time.

Such a complete disassembling of the wheel is not only usually unnecessary, but is time consuming and laborious, and is not necessary unless all of the die members are to be replaced at one time. The present invention permits selective replacement of the die members in case any one die member on a wheel becomes defective for any reason.

The compacting wheels for the briquetting machines can take many sizes, but the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 shows a construction in which 24 steel block members 28 are mounted about the periphery of the main body member ofthe wheel with each of the 24 steel block members have a respective die member detachably mounted thereon.

As will be particularly noted in FIGS. 3 and 4, each die member is adapted to cooperate with a die member adjacent thereto in forming one of the pockets of the respective wheel. Thus, each die member in FIG. 2 has a complete pocket formed in the center and has half pockets formed. thereon at the ends.

A wheel made up according to FIG. 3, since it has two pockets for each die member, would have a total of 48 pockets about the entire periphery.

The advantage of briquetting wheels inwhich the hard wear resistant part of the assembly is relatively small, so that it can be made of expensive material at no great economic penalty, is also shown in FIGS. 5 through 9. In these figures, the wheel must be disassembled to gain access to the die members to be replaced, but the advantage is still present that the die member proper is relatively small while being firmly and solidly supported on a steel backing member.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, for example, each die member 50 is mounted in a respective steel block member 52 which has a recess to receive the die member with each die member having a shank portion 54 protuberant therefrom on the back with holes provided therein in which machinable sleeves 56 are fixed as by cementing or brazing. Sleeves 56 are internally threaded and are adapted for receiving bolts 58 that extend through bores provided therefor in the respective steel block member 52.

The steel block members are provided with annular tenons 60 at the opposite axial ends for being mounted in a wheel structure similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

The die member of FIGS. 5 and 6 is of a type having two complete pockets on the center region thereof and two half pockets at the ends.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show an arrangement similar to that of FIGS. 5 and 6 with the die member mounted in a steel block member 72 and held therein by bolts 74 which are threaded into machinable sleeves 76 mounted in bores distributed over the bottom wall of the die member.

The die member of FIGS. 7 and 8 is relatively large and has four rows of pockets with each row consisting of two full pockets, or cavities, and two half pockets, or cavities, at the extreme ends.

The bolts 74 are distributed beneath the die member so that there is one near each corner of the die member and a center bolt in about the middle of the die member whereby the die member is pulled down firmly and solidly against the wall of the steel block member which is in opposition to the bottom surface of the die member.

FIG. 9 shows an arrangement quite similar to that of FIGS. 2 and 3 except the pockets in the die member are arranged somewhat differently. The principal difference between the arrangement of FIGS. 2 and 3 and that of FIG. 9 is that in FIG. 9 the wedging lock member 80 is curved and the opposed wedging surface on the die member can'also be curved thus insuring that the lateral support imparted to the die member extends radially outwardly to the maximum extent.

Modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a briquetting machine; a wheel comprising a main body part mounted for rotation on a central axis, radially outwardly opening axially extending pockets which are V-shaped in cross section formed in the periphery of said body part in circumferentially adjacent relation, support blocks having radially inner sides complementary in shape to said pockets and seated in said pockets, the opposite ends of each block being closely adjacent the ends of the blocks next adjacent thereto, each block having radially outwardly facing shoulders formed thereon at the opposite axial ends and each shoulder extending the full length of the respective block, flange means on the axial ends of the body part each having a radially inwardly facing shoulder on the axially inner side engaging the adjacent shoulders on said blocks and clamping the blocks in the respective pockets, at least one flange means being detachable from said body part for releasing said blocks from said pockets, each block having a groove formed in the radially outer side with a bottom wall and side walls, the said grooves in said blocks being in aligned end to end relation and forming a continuous annular recess about the wheel, a corresponding side wall of each groove inclining toward the other side wall in the radially outward direction, a die member of hard wear resistant material in each groove having recess means formed in the radially outer side, each die member having a radially inner side resting on the bottom wall of the groove in the respective block and one axial side which is inclined correspondingly to and in engagement with the inclined side wall of the respective groove, the other axial side of said die member being axially spaced from the other side wall of the groove and diverging therefrom in the radially outward direction, and a bar'- like wedge member about the same length as said die member wedged between said other side of the die member and said other side wall of said groove and clamping said die member in said groove.

2. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which each said shoulder is concentric with the central axis of said wheel whereby the shoulders on said flange means take a full bearing on the shoulders on said blocks.

3. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which the said shoulders are inclined so as to converge in the radially outward direction.

4. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 which includes screw means extending through each wedge member and threadedly engaging the respective block for clamping the wedge member to the respective block.

5. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which both axial sides of each said die member, incline toward the other thereof in the radially outward direction.

6. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which each said die member comprises cemented hard metal carbide.

7. A briquetting machine according to' claim 1 in which each said die member comprises cemented tungsten carbide.

8. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which the bottom wall of each said groove and the opposed radially inner side of the respective die member are planar and perpendicular to a radius of the wheel passing through the center of the respective block.

9. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which the bottom wall of each said groove and the opposed radially inner side of the respective die member are curved so as to be concentric with the axis of rotation of said wheel. 

1. In a briquetting machine; a wheel comprising a main body part mounted for rotation on a central axis, radially outwardly opening axially extending pockets which are V-shaped in cross section formed in the periphery of said body part in circumferentially adjacent relation, support blocks having radially inner sides complementary in shape to said pockets and seated in said pockets, the opposite ends of each block being closely adjacent the ends of the blocks next adjacent thereto, each block having radially outwardly facing shoulders formed thereon at the opposite axial ends and each shoulder extending the full length of the respective block, flange means on the axial ends of the body part each having a radially inwardly facing shoulder on the axially inner side engaging the adjacent shoulders on said blocks and clamping the blocks in the respective pockets, at least one flange means being detachable from said body part for releasing said blocks from said pockets, each block having a groove formed in the radially outer side with a bottom wall and side walls, the said grooves in said blocks being in aligned end to end relation and forming a continuous annular recess about the wheel, a corresponding side wall of each groove inclining toward the other side wall in the radially outward direction, a die member of hard wear resistant material in each groove having recess means formed in the radially outer side, each die member having a radially inner side resting on the bottom wall of the groove in the respective block and one axial side which is inclined correspondingly to and in engagement with the inclined side wall of the respective groove, the other axial side of said die member being axially spaced from the other side wall of the groove and diverging therefrom in the radially outward direction, and a bar-like wedge member about the same length as said die member wedged between said other side of the die member and said other side wall of said groove and clamping said die member in said groove.
 2. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which each said shoulder is concentric with the central axis of said wheel whereby the shoulders on said flange means take a full bearing on the shoulders on said blocks.
 3. A briquetting machine acCording to claim 1 in which the said shoulders are inclined so as to converge in the radially outward direction.
 4. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 which includes screw means extending through each wedge member and threadedly engaging the respective block for clamping the wedge member to the respective block.
 5. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which both axial sides of each said die member incline toward the other thereof in the radially outward direction.
 6. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which each said die member comprises cemented hard metal carbide.
 7. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which each said die member comprises cemented tungsten carbide.
 8. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which the bottom wall of each said groove and the opposed radially inner side of the respective die member are planar and perpendicular to a radius of the wheel passing through the center of the respective block.
 9. A briquetting machine according to claim 1 in which the bottom wall of each said groove and the opposed radially inner side of the respective die member are curved so as to be concentric with the axis of rotation of said wheel. 